United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright Holder: Peter Schulhof
Joseph Schulhof (1903-2005) was born on 18 September 1903 in Český Brod, Bohemia (Czechoslovakia after 1918; present-day Czech Republic) to Mathilde (née Reichmann, 1875-1940) and Paul (1862-1939) Schulhof. He had three brothers, Karel (1895-1944), Jaroslav (1897-1944), and Rudolf (Ruda, 1912-1999), and one sister, Marta (later Marta Wien, 1905-1943). Charlotte Schulhof (born Sarolta Poras, 1909-2008) was born on 1 September 1909 in Kaposvar, Hungary to Herman (1882-1944) and Gizella (née Haffner, 1887-1913) Poras. She had one sister, Katalin (later Katalin Neumann, 1911-2001). Charlotte’s mother died in 1913, and her father later married Margit Rosenberg (d. 1944). Joseph attended college in Prague, and after graduation in 1925, he worked briefly at a coal mine in Kladno, Czechoslovakia. He then joined an engineering firm in Prague. In 1929 he was transferred to Ostrava (Czech Republic) to set up a new branch. There he met Charlotte Poras, who was living with her uncle in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, across the border from Ostrava. They married in 1932. In 1935, they moved back to Prague. Their son, Peter, was born in 1937. After the German army occupied Prague on 15 March 1939, the Schulhofs began exploring ways to emigrate. They wanted to immigrate to the United States, but despite efforts from relatives already living there, they were told the quota was already full. As no other countries would grant them visas, they decided to go to Shanghai, China where visas were not required for entry at the time. Through financial assistance from relatives, including Joseph’s brother Rudolph, who immigrated to the United States via Belgium in May 1939, they were able to purchase tickets on the SS Conte Verde. On 2 May 1940, the Schulhofs sailed from Genoa, Italy to Shanghai. They remained in Shanghai until Joseph was able to secure an engineering position with the Swiss firm Lieberman Waelchli & Co. in 1941. The family then moved to Tientsin, China (Tianjin, China), where they remained until 1948. After initial plans to remain in Tientsin, they realized that the increasing Chinese civil war made necessary their departure. In November 1948, they were finally able to immigrate to the United States. The family settled in New York where Charlotte co-owned a business that imported Chinese jewelry and other goods, and Joseph worked various jobs until he was able to resume his engineering career in 1951. In 1954, they moved to Middletown, New York. Joseph’s father died in 1939, and his mother died in 1940, both of natural causes. His brothers Karel and Jaroslav, and his sister Marta, along with their spouses and children all perished at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Jaroslav’s daughter Vera (later Vera Dvorak, 1921-2006) was the only family member to survive the camp. Charlotte’s father Herman and her stepmother Margit both perished at Auschwitz. Her sister Katalin was deported to Auschwitz, and then to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she was a forced-laborer. After liberation, she was sent to a rehabilitation camp in Loka Brunn, Grythyttan, Sweden. She joined Joseph and Charlotte in Tientsin in 1947. Unable to obtain a United States visa at the time of Joseph, Charlotte, and Peter’s departure, she remained in Tiantsin until 1949 when she immigrated to Israel. She immigrated to the United States in 1958.
The collection documents the Holocaust experiences of Joseph, Charlotte, and Peter Schulhof of Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic) as refugees in Shanghai and Tientsin (Tianjin), China from 1940-1948. Included are biographical materials such as identification papers, employment documentation, marriage papers, and family genealogy research; wartime correspondence with relatives in the United States and Europe, many of whom would perish at Auschwitz; immigration papers documenting the family’s emigration from Czechoslovakia to China in 1940 and their immigration to the United States in 1948; and photographs primarily depicting pre-war life in Europe and their experiences in China. The biographical materials series primarily contains identification papers from Czechoslovakia and China; employment documentation from Czechoslovakia, China, and the United States; and genealogy charts for the Schulhof and Poras families. Other materials include papers from the Tientsin Hebrew Association and the Tientsin Hebrew School, clippings, the text of a speech by Joseph for an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in New York titled “The Precious Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections”, and a narrative statement by Joseph regarding his Holocaust experiences for a restitution claim. Additionally, there are three copies of a typed narrative by Charlotte’s sister Katalin Neumann describing her Holocaust experiences. She describes her deportation from Hungary in 1944 to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she was liberated. Included with the narrative is a transcription in German and a translation in English by Peter Schulhof. The correspondence series contains wartime correspondence of Joseph and Charlotte Schulhof with relatives in the United States and Europe. Included are letters of Charlotte to relatives in the Haffner family in the United States regarding efforts to obtain immigration visas for the United States in 1939; letters to Joseph from his mother before her death in 1940, siblings Karel, Jaroslav, and Marta before their deportation; and telegrams to Joseph from Fritz Vodak regarding a potential job in Bangkok in 1940. The immigration series documents the Schulhof’s emigration from Czechoslovakia to China in 1940 and their immigration to the United States in 1948. Included is correspondence, applications, vaccination documents, Czech passports, and naturalization paperwork. The photographs series primarily contains pre-war family photographs and albums of the Schulhof and Poras families, and depictions of the Schulhof’s experiences in China. The photographs albums are annotated by Joseph Schulhof, and also include a few post-war photographs. The printed material series includes a copy of Review of the Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews, volume 3, 1990-1991, which contains the article"From Prague to the far East" by Joseph Schulhof as told to Lewis Weiner. The article describes in detail Joseph’s Holocaust experiences in Prague and China.
boxes oversize box oversize folders 2 1 8
The collection is arranged as five series: Series 1: Biographical material, 1904-1999; Series 2: Correspondence, 1939-1991; Series 3: Immigration, 1936-1954; Series 4: Photographs, circa 1882-1990; Series 5: Printed Material, 1938-1991
Schulhof family papers